Coffee meringue kisses

---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.05
  
       Title: Coffee Meringue Kisses
  Categories: Cookies, Christmas
       Yield: 36 servings
  
     3/4 c  Sugar
            1.00 ts vanilla extract
       3 ts Powdered instant
            -coffee
            0.25 ts cream of tartar
       4    Egg whites, room
            -temperature
  
     These cookies - said to have been a favorite with Marie Antoinette -
     are 100 percent fat-free, and have about 20 calories per cookie. They
     also have no flour, so would be good for someone who isn't able to
     eat wheat. They will, however, tie up your oven for 3-4 hours.
   
     Heat oven to 250'F. Use nonstick cookie sheets, or line regular cookie
     sheets with parchment paper. In a food processor with a metal blade,
     process the sugar and coffee powder until the texture of the sugar
     becomes very fine. In a large mixing bowl, beat the egg whites and
     vanilla extract with an electric mixer at medium speed, until very
     frothy. Add cream of tartar, and continue beating at medium speed
     until soft peaks form. Increase beater speed to high, and gradually
     beat in sugar-coffee mixture. Continue beating until soft peaks form
     and mixture has a glossy sheen.
   
     To pipe cookies from pastry bag: Fill pastry bag (or 1-gallon freezer
     bag), fitted with Number 6 plain round pastry tube, with meringue.
     Hold bag upright over prepared cookie sheets and squeeze out
     meringue, leaving pastry tip buried in meringue, until you have piped
     out a round about 1 1/2" in diameter. Lift up tip and stop squeezing.
     Leave 1" between cookies. Or, drop by tablespoonfuls onto prepared
     cookie sheet, leaving 2" between cookies.
   
     Bake 1 hour without opening oven door. Turn off oven, and let
     meringues dry in oven 2-3 hours more without opening oven door.
     (After the first hour, it's okay to peek just once.) At this point
     you can leave them in the oven overnight.
   
     Remove the meringues from the cookie sheet with a spatula. Store in
     airtight container. Makes about 3 dozen.
  
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